Finding the Truth
by Vaidee Assep
Summary: Hermoine and Draco are off to their final year at Hogwarts. Little does the Golden Trio know that some changes are coming their way. All because of Draco.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I only own the storyline and the characters I make up to go in here.

CHAPTER 1

Hermoine sat across from her two best friends on the train headed towards Hogwarts. Harry and Ron were arguing over which Quidditch team would win the next game. This topic held very little interest for the 7th year Head Girl. She turned her eyes back to her book and continued to read up on advanced potions.

The summer had changed Hermoine from a girl into a woman. She had cut her long hair to a short manageable length that brushed her chin. The waves worked well to accent her features. Her body had developed its curves due to lengthy swimming in her best (muggle) friends pool. She was 5'6" tall now and had a grace that had even caused her chums to notice.

Harry and Ron had changed as well. Harry was much leaner that he had been at the end of their 6th year. He and Ron had been playing Quidditch all summer and he had developed a nice tan to match his well muscled body. Ron had bulked up quit a bit and now seemed to take up too much room with his wide shoulders. His muscles were more prominent than Harry's and his hair, unlike Harry's, was now cut into an eye level razor cut. Harry had his grown out to brush his shoulders.

Hermoine shut her book when she couldn't take anymore talk about the Quidditch teams.

"I think that I'll go and see how Ginny and Lavender are doing." Hermoine said with a smile at the boys who didn't even look up at her in farewell.

With a sigh she made her way out of the small room and began down the hall. After chatting with Ginny and Lavender for about 30 minutes, Hermoine left to seek something to eat.

After about 3 minutes of wandering the halls, Hermoine turned a sharp corner and ran into the hardest thing since cement had been invented.

"Oomph!" Hermoine cried as she landed on her backside.

"Granger you should really watch where you are going. You never know who you may run into." A voice from her worst dreams said.

Hermoine glanced up to look at Draco Malfoy standing over her.

"Maybe it was your fault that I hit you." Hermoine said with a low grumbling voice.

Draco laughed as he reached down to help her to her feet. Hermoine pulled back from him as soon as she got her legs beneath her, unsure of what he was playing at. Covertly, Hermoine studied him while brushing herself off. He, like Harry and Ron, had filled out. He seemed a bit taller and certainly more muscular. His skin seemed to have taken on a healthy glow instead of the pallor that he seemed to have had over the years. He had left the last year with short hair that had always been gelled away from his face. Now, probably due to some mishap, his hair reached his waist and was loosely pulled back.

"Are you going to stand there all day, Granger, or are you going to come with me to the Heads meeting I was sent to get you for?" He said with humor lacing his every word.

"You are the head boy?" Hermoine was shocked. "How did you manage that?"

Draco gave her a cheeky grin. "I am smart most of the time."

Hermoine had no clue why he was being so nice to her. It wasn't like they had been getting along for years now.

"Shall we get going?" He asked holding a hand out to point her in the right direction.

"Yeah… Heads meeting… sure." Hermoine said while keeping one eye on him as they walked into a small compartment.

Inside the room, Dumbledor himself sat on one of the benches.

"Ah. Good afternoon Miss Granger. I see our young Mr. Malfoy has found you strait away." his eyes twinkled as he watched the two top students in his school. "There will be some changes at the school that I thought I should tell you about in person. Mostly so that you know that they are true, but also to give Mr. Malfoy some support as well." As he said this his gaze swung back and forth between the two. Draco looked calm but Hermoine seemed as if she could faint with worry. "As you both know, the two of you are the Head students this year. After dinner I will show the two of you to your private quarters. There will be one bathroom and one common room that you both share. The rooms will be decorated how you like. Just tell the portrait on the door what you want everything to look like and they will take care of it. Now on to more serious business. Miss Granger, I know that you and Mr. Malfoy here have not had the best type of relationship. I would ask that you please not give each other a hard time during this last year that you are here. Mr. Malfoy's Father has, sadly, passed away during the break. In this circumstance, Mr. Malfoy has come to me with information regarding his place as a Slytherin. He will undergo resorting with the new students and be placed in Gryffindor. The other students will not take this well and I will leave it to the pair of you to make the best of it. With this important news taken care of, I take my leave. I shall see you both at the feast tonight." With a slight pop he was gone.

Hermoine sat on the bench with a shocked expression on her face. Draco took a seat beside her and lightly touched her arm. Hermoine jumped at the contact and looked over at the boy sitting next to her.

"Its all true? You are really going to become a Gryffindor?" Hermoine asked while pushing her bangs out of her line of vision.

"Yeah. Surprising, huh?" Draco said with a small smile.

"How can this be?" She asked in amazement.

"I had to pretend to be evil to you while my father was alive. During our sorting I had to think as many devious things as I could to be put into Slytherin." Draco fell quiet.

"Wow. Are there any other surprises that I should know about before I get off of this train?" Hermoine asked while putting her head in her hands.

"Lets save that for later." Draco said with a small laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I only own the storyline and the characters I make up to go in here.

"Speaking"

Thinking

Chapter 2

All of the students sat around their perspective house tables awaiting the sorting of new students. The first years were lined up at the front of the hall and one by one were having the hat placed upon their head. It continued this way in alphabetical order. When it got to the N's Hermoine started to listen for Draco's name.

"Helena Nadiro…Slytherin! Maddie Nuzalen… Ravenclaw! Frank Maenas… Hufflepuff!"

Finally the awaited name came.

"Draco Malfoy…"

The room went quiet. Hermoine snuck looks at her housemates and friends. All wore a shocked and puzzled look on their faces.

Draco, on the other hand. Was having a battle of wills with the Sorting Hat.

Ah, Draco Malfoy. We meet again. The hat whispered in his mind. I thought that you just had to be a Slytherin through and through? Where has this attitude gone? Hmmm. I see the same tricky and sly part of you I saw 6 years ago, but I also see a newfound courage to face the future. This will not be an easy switch for you, but I believe in allowing the students to sort themselves to a certain degree. Are you sure you want to do this? The hat sent these thoughts to Draco while chuckling out loud.

Yes. I am sure about this. Draco thought back with a snarl in his tone.

Very well… "Gryffindor!" The hat shouted loudly to the silent crowed.

From the Slytherin table there were gasps, cries, and shouts of traitor! From the Gryffindor table there were groans, shouts of No, and even the sobs of some. Hermoine looked at Harry and Ron to see their reaction They were huddled together whispering. She could here small bits of phrases such as… "Couldn't be….must have tricked….make our lives miserable…how could this have happened….spy for the dark…." Hermoine couldn't handle it. All of this was just too much for her to take. She stood and moved over to the heads table and sat there so that she could think. The gasps of her peers didn't ring in her ears at all. Draco made his way over and sat beside her.

"You should be sitting with your new classmates and trying to make friends." Hermoine said while putting food on her plate.

"What do you think that I am doing, Granger." Draco said while snatching the grapes she had just put on her plate and eating them himself.

Hermoine glared at him and growled. "Try harder."

The two passed the rest of the feast in silence until Hermoine finally asked…"How did you fool the Sorting Hat?"

Draco put down his utensils and looked at her for a moment. " I thought every bad and wicked thought I could when I started up that platform. The hat laughed at me in my head but yelled out what I wanted it to."

"Oh. I didn't think that the hat would be tricked that easily." Hermoine said after a moment of silence.

"I think it saw through me from that very moment because my mind was also filled with the horrible visions of what my father would do to me if I didn't make Slytherin. I think it pitied me." Draco said with a small sad smile.

Hermoine returned the smile and finished eating.

After the feast, Draco and Hermoine made their way outside of the Hall. Dumbledor stood waiting for them.

"If you will follow me I will show you where your private suite is located." he said in his raspy voice.

Following the twisting and winding corridors, the trio finally made it to a picture of a pretty garden with fairies buzzing inside.

"Bronwyn!" The headmaster called out.

A small shining dot came close to show a young girl with huge butterfly wings.

Draco, Hermoine, this is Bronwyn. She guards your rooms." The tiny creature curtsied to them.

"Password" A squeaky voice chirped out.

Draco looked at Hermoine and motioned for her to give the word.

"How about…Sumimasen?" Hermoine said quietly.

Draco looked puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"Sumimasen is Japanese for 'sorry'. I started to learn some over the break but haven't gotten very far." Hermoine said with a little grin.

"Sumimasen it is." Draco agreed.

The two of them made their way into the common room. It was magical. The carpet was a thick and lush one the color of coffee. The furniture was all a light cream and stuffed with padding. A fire roared in the oversized fireplace giving the room a cabin like feel. On one side of the room were three doors. The two on the ends were marked with an elegant D and H. Dumbledor told them that there were many secrets in this suite that they would have to find out on their own. He promptly took his leave.

Hermoine and Draco made their way to their respective rooms. Draco entered his and looked at the plain décor and told the small art pallet picture on his door that he wanted the room to be black and gold. The carpet turned black and the walls turned silver. The bed became larger, due to Draco's specifications, and turned jet black with gold accent pillows on it. Most of the furniture turned black with gold accenting. On one wall he had a black dragon appear with black flames surrounding it. He thought the room looked marvelous.

Hermoine seemed to have the opposite idea. Her room was instructed to have pure white walls with a silver carpet that she could sink her toes into. The furniture was all white with silver cloth on it. A slash of crimson went down the comforter at an angle and added some depth to the shining room. Hermoine made one wall look like it was snowing and decided that it was good enough for now. She made her way to the second door that led to the bathroom.

Upon opening the door she met the eyes of Draco standing across the length of the room. They both walked in and looked around. Hermoine leaned over and took a look at his room while Draco did the same to see her room. Hermoine chuckled at the color while Draco shook his head at hers. The two exited the bathroom and went into their common room. At the same time they notices the small door in an unconscious corner. Draco reached it first and yanked it open to reveal a kitchen. A note lay on the dining table.

I hope that you don't feel

the need to use this but if

you do then just say what

you want and it will cook

itself up for you.

Headmaster Dumbledor

"Well we had best go to the Gryffindor common room to get the people there acquainted with seeing you." Hermoine said in a low, somber voice.

"I need to go to check on my sisters anyway." Draco said with a nod.

"SISTERS! What sisters!" Hermoine said while taking a surprised step back.

"They were sorted into this house today… right after me." Draco said with a questioning look. "Didn't you hear all the commotion?"

"No! I was too busy thinking of how to keep Harry and Ron from killing you." Hermoine said in a rush. "Oh Malfoy! We need to get over there right away if your sisters are in there!" Hermoine took off at a run… followed closely by Draco.

The two of them reached the portrait entrance to the Gryffindor common room as it swung open to reveal Harry and Ron coming out. Draco stopped in his tracks as did both of the other boys. Hermoine stopped and stepped in between them.

"Boys, no fighting. We are all in the same house. I don't want to have to take points away from my best friends." Hermoine said in a smooth and calming voice.

Both Harry and Draco nodded to this but clenched their jaw muscles and their fists. Ron, on the other hand, barreled forward.

"Hermoine, I know that he is in our house now, but I am not going to forget the last six years of torment just because a death eater spy has wormed his way into our domain!"

Draco stepped forward and rolled up his sleeves. "Take a good look Weasel. Do you see the mark anywhere on my flesh? No? Then perhaps you should keep your ignorant, lowborn, mouth to yourself!"

Ron got kind of red in the face and pulled back for a punch when two girls about a year younger than the other four came running out of the room. Ron stopped his punch and looked on curiously with Harry and Hermoine. Hermoine assumed that these were his sisters. One of them had short black hair that wisped around her ears and face, giving her an elfish look. She also had big, gray eyes that were framed by thick lashes. The other had long, curly black hair that had blue streaks in it. This offset her bright blue eyes that took over most of her face. They were both tall and well rounded and had faces that were similar to their older brothers.

"Draco! Can you believe it! We actually got into the same house!" The gray eyed one said with cheer.

Draco hugged both girls and turned them around.

"Hermoine, Potter, Weasel. These are my sisters, Persephone" He motioned to the one with the short hair. " and Iona." He motioned to the one with curly hair.

Persephone stepped forward and shook all of their hands. "Please call me Perry. My full name is so old sounding." She smiled a bit more at Harry, or so Hermoine seemed to notice.

Iona stepped forward and curtsied. "Please call me Io." She said in a meek voice before stepping back to her brothers side.

Hermoine smiled at both of the pleasant girls. "I would like for you to come by the Heads dorm tomorrow so that I can get to know you both! I'm sure that Ron or Harry would be glad to show you the way."

Perry gave her a huge smile and nodded. Io gave her a little head bob and went back into the Gryffindor common room.

After a while both Harry and Ron went back inside with Perry and Hermoine and Draco started back to their rooms.

"Listen, Granger. I don't want either of my sisters hanging around with those two dunderheads that you call friends." Draco said with a growling voice as they entered their common room.

"Harry and Ron would never hurt them!" Hermoine said in a believing tone.

Draco grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her into a corner, roughly.

"Oof!" All of the air escaped Hermoine's chest.

"The two of them don't like me and I don't like them. I refuse for my sisters to get caught in the middle. They are the most important things to me and I won't see them hurt in any way!" Draco said while not an inch from Hermoine's face.

Hermoine licked her suddenly dry lips. His body was pressed tight against hers and she couldn't think. For one fleeting moment in Hermoine Granger's life, she was impulsive. Hermoine moved that scant inch and licked Draco's full bottom lip softly.

Draco pulled back with wide eyes. He had been trying to intimidate her into his way of thinking when that soft touch shocked him. He met her eyes and they stared at each other for a long time. He noticed a blush work its way up onto Hermoine's cheeks.

"Um well, I had best go and get some sleep. Classes start tomorrow and all." Hermoine slipped from under Draco and took off into her room. Draco on the other hand was leaning against the wall with wide eyes fixed after the fleeing Hermoine.

"Wow…" He whispered in the silence.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hermoine leaned against her door with her hands covering her eyes. She could still taste Draco on her lips. A shuddering breath struggled out of her.

Oh my God! What did I just do? He is going to think that I am a total tramp!

A strangled sob worked its way out of Hermoine. Slowly she straitened her body and walked to her bed. After laying down, she fell into a fitful sleep.

Draco, who was still leaning against the common room wall, ran a hand over his face. It was hard for him to accept that he had feelings for Hermoine Granger. Yes, he had been rude to her over the last six years but that had been something he had done to protect himself from his fathers cruel actions. If he had been nice or even polite to someone outside of Slytherin, he would have been beaten at the very least. In all of those years he had been teasing Granger and making her feel bad. He had actually only felt mild indifference towards the girl who was credited with being the smartest girl in the school. Harry, he didn't care for but that was because a lot of Potters actions had caused him to receive punishments that he didn't deserve. Ron and he would never get along. It just wasn't in them to understand each other and become buddies. Never had he expected the girl he shared a common room with to grow up and cause him to notice the changes in her.

"Oh man.." He said as he heard a soft sob come out of her room.

With strange feelings weighing on him, Draco moved himself into his own room for the night.

The next morning, Hermoine awoke with a sore neck and back. The tossing and turning of the night had really made her muscles form knots. After stepping into the bathroom for a quick shower, she went and sat at her vanity to take care of her hair. Hermoine pulled out a can of mousse and put a dollop into her hand to work through her hair. After pulling out a bit of gel and applying it to the underside of her short style, Hermoine used her wand to create a blow-dried effect. Running a comb through it, she shook her head to give it a bit more natural look. It had taken her all summer to learn what to do to avoid an afro. It just didn't look appealing on her that way.

The shower in the bathroom sounded and caused Hermoine to look towards the door.

Draco must be up. She thought with a sigh.

Hermoine made her way to the hall to have breakfast before she could see Draco that morning. After a while, Io and Perry came in and sat beside Hermoine.

"Hey there Hermoine!" Perry said with a bright smile covering her elfish features. "What's for breakfast?"

Io smiled a small smile and put some food on her plate to begin eating.

"You can eat whatever you can reach, here." Hermoine said with a returned smile.

"I wish." Perry said eyeing the boy who had just entered the room.

Hermoine looked up to see Harry coming towards them then glanced at the girl beside her. Harry sat down and gave all of the girls a fond good morning. He dug into the food that he put on his plate. Hermoine looked over to see that Perry had a wishful expression on her face. After a while, Ron came in and sat beside Harry.

"Morning." He said in between his bites of ham and eggs.

Io sat quietly during the greetings and continued to eat in silence. After about thirty minutes, Draco walked in and sat near the end of the table, away from everyone else. Ron looked up and over at him with fire in his eyes.

"I can't believe that the ferret has the balls to sit at the same table with all of the decent people. He should have been put into Azkaban with his father!" Ron said in a loud voice.

Io Looked up at Ron and threw her fork down into her plate. "I doubt that you even know Draco well enough to make that call. No wonder you don't pass your classes! You have no common sense." With that Io picked up her plate and went down to sit with her older brother.

"What was her problem?" Ron said in a surprised voice.

"Ron, I know that my brother and you will probably never get along but that was totally uncalled for. Unlike my sister, I am not as polite." With that said, Perry picked up her glass of milk and threw its contents across the table at Ron's head.

"Ron! Why did you have to be such an ass?" Hermoine yelled at the red headed boy.

"What?" Ron yelled back while wiping the milk off of his body. "We all know that he is just a filthy spy for the Death Eaters! Him not having the mark just means that he hasn't gotten around to it. He needs to learn that his place is as far away from good society as he can get. If I had my way, he would be banned from this society and made to live with muggles!" Ron had stood while yelling this.

Hermoine slowly stood and said in a quiet whisper. "Do you know that you just sounded like Malfoy did during the last six years? The only thing that you left out was calling me a mudblood. Congradulations, Ron. You just became what you have hated fro so long."

With that Hermoine turned and left the morning feast. Ron stood there with a shamed expression for a while. He, too, turned and walked away.

Harry just sat there for a while before getting to his feet. With slow steps he walked to the end of the table where Draco, Perry, and Io sat in silence.

"Malfoy... Meet me after classes on the Quidditch Pitch. The two of us need to get some things out of our systems and try to clear the air. If not for our sake... then for your sisters. I don't want the others to treat them like we have treated each other." Harry said in measured tones.

Draco stood and nodded his agreement. "Sure."

With that Harry walked away.


End file.
